Meet Al-Rasheed Benton, the unsung leader of West Virginia's defense

The 2018 NFL Draft is only a day away, and the excitement levels are at an all-time high. Hundreds of players will fulfill their dreams of being drafted by an NFL team, while other players will have to scratch and claw their way onto an NFL roster as an undrafted free agent.

Whichever road lies ahead of him, West Virginia linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton is ready for it. The senior finished the 2017 season with 110 total tackles, three sacks, and two interceptions, and is looking to produce similar results in the NFL.

Benton recently spoke exclusively with Draft Wire about what goes through his mind when he’s on the field, his philanthropic side, and what he can bring to the table for an NFL team.

Related

JI: One thing I’ve noticed when watching your tape is your high motor. How confident in your assignments do you have to be constantly flying around the field like you do?

AB: I think you have to be very confident. If you understand what your job is, what your responsibility is on any given play, then you can take care of that. Once you get that taken care of, and the ball goes outside of your responsibility, then you have confidence in your team and try to make a play elsewhere. So I’d say confidence and understanding your role in the scheme plays a big part in that.

JI: Let’s say you’re out on the field and you see the offensive line advancing towards you, signaling a run play. What’s the first thing that goes through your mind?

AB: I enjoy [that feeling], actually. I like when you try to run the ball at me; I kind of take that as disrespect. To me, it’s you feeling that I’m the weak link and I’m the one you want to run at, so I take that with a great deal of pride, being able to stop those plays when they come right at me. Depending on the play, it could allow me to make a different call. For example, we had one blitz at West Virginia whenever I see a lineman check towards me, I would always switch it and let the SAM linebacker blitz because that’s the lead guy on the back side. Depending on what play we’re running, whether it’s a pressure or anything like that, it could alert me to switch up what we’re running. But I definitely take it as a sign of disrespect whenever [teams] run the ball at me.

JI: On passing downs, do you prefer blitzing or dropping back in coverage?

AB: If I had to pick one, I would say blitzing: I like getting after the quarterback. But I enjoy doing both. I enjoy playing in coverage and I like blitzing. But yeah, if I had to choose one, I’d say blitzing, but I enjoy doing both.

JI: You got the chance to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. What was your favorite moment about that whole experience?

AB: One [of my favorite parts] was getting to meet the scouts. For the first few days there, we had a lot of scouts, and it was the first time that I got to be face-to-face with them myself. Any time before that, they had to go through our player personnel guy at West Virginia or one of our coaches, so that was my first time getting the chance to sit down, meet them face-to-face and get their first impressions of me. [Another favorite part was] the coaching staff. The guys we had on the coaching staff were a lot of former players and guys who were passionate about the game and were passionate about getting us better. They helped me get a lot better in just a week’s time, so that was great.

JI: What were some of the things that you were asked when you were meeting with NFL scouts and personnel?

AB: [They asked me about] strengths, what my strengths were, what I could bring to the team, whichever team that was, if I felt like I could come in and make an impact right away. Besides that, background things and things like that. But those were the biggest things: just what do I think my assets are, and how I could come in and help the team right away.

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

JI: Who is the best player you’ve ever gone up against?

AB: Honestly, I’ve been saying [Baker] Mayfield, but, ever, in my whole college career, I’d say Derrick Henry. I played against Alabama my freshman year, but I wasn’t starting on defense then, so if I was picking a guy that I played against when I was starting, I’d say a guy like Baker Mayfield or Mason Rudolph from Oklahoma State. Both of those guys are good at running their offense and dissecting defenses and managing the game, so I always knew that it was going to be a tough game when we lined up against those guys.

JI: What was your reaction when you found out that you wouldn’t be invited to the NFL Combine?

AB: I don’t want to say it was shocking, because I know that sometimes guys coming from West Virginia – and sometimes from the Big 12 in general – sometimes we don’t get the respect we deserve. I felt as though I had a good enough season and that I should’ve been invited, but it’s just more motivation. It showed me that sometimes, when you do get that kind of recognition, some guys can replace you, and it just helped me realize and show me that I’ve got a lot of work to do, [and that I should] keep doing what I’ve already done and what I’ve accomplished so far and keep my foot on the pedal.

JI: It’s definitely an opportunity to prove everyone wrong.

AB: Definitely. Like I said, that’s nothing. Once you get to a certain point and you’ve played Division I football, you’re starting to feel like, “Okay, I’m alive,” and that was just one of those situations that reminds you of where you came from, what it took to get here, and what it’s going to take to get to where you want to be, so I’m actually grateful for it.

Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

JI: This past December, you spent your Christmas Day delivering food to the homeless in Dallas. What has inspired you to fulfill a philanthropic role?

AB: Where I’m from – Newark, New Jersey – you see a lot of homelessness, so even here I’m always trying to do the most I can. That day, me and one of my teammates, David Long, were talking, and we had a team dinner, and I was saying to him, “Man, the food was good, but it just wasn’t what I wanted for Christmas,” you know, you want that home cooking. We were talking about it, and he says, “There are a lot of people who would be grateful to have this meal that we’re having right now,” and I said, “You know what? You’re right.” We had seen a lot of homeless people in Dallas walking to practices, so we figured that it would be a great idea to give some of those guys some of our food. So much of it was left over, and I didn’t think that we were going to do much with it, so I went around to be of the local bus stations, found a few people who were hungry, and gave them a few plates. There were more people who didn’t get a plate, so I went back and got some more. I think that’s when people saw me, moving back and forth, coming back to get plates, throw it on a bike, and there were more people who wanted more, so I would go back and get some more. It was just great. It just made me realize that I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.

JI: When did you realize that you could play at an NFL level?

AB: I’ve always wanted to play in the NFL. To be honest, when I was younger, I remember being 10 years old, and we had a playoff game on my Pop Warner team. It came down to the wire, right before the game was over, and I had to make three plays in a row to stop them to get the win. That’s when I realized that this is what I really want to do. This is something that I enjoy doing. When I got to college, if I had to pick one moment, I would say my sophomore year, [Jared] Barber was starting in front of me, he got hurt, and I got the chance to start against Liberty. Being out there in the game, the atmosphere, my first time being able to play the whole game at MIKE linebacker, with the full stands, that environment just made me realize that that pressure is something I like. That pressure is something I’m built for. As the games moved on and the pressure built more and more, I just got better and better. That’s when I realize that I could do this, I could play with the best of them.

JI: What NFL team did you root for growing up?

AB: Baltimore. I love the Ravens, man. Just their tradition, and I loved Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

JI: What player(s) do you try to emulate?

AB: I would say Ray Lewis, and that passion, and the way he played the game, the way he took care of business every day. That’s something I idolize. As I’ve gotten older, if there’s a player I’ve watched now and tried to pick up pieces of his game, I would say Luke Kuechly. His ability to be around the ball, make plays down field and in the backfield, wherever the ball is, he’s always there. That’s definitely something that I try to do.

JI: What do you feel like you need to work on the most as you prepare to jump to the NFL level?

AB: One thing I would say is trusting my reads. I do a lot of film work, I do a lot of dissecting plays, figuring out tendencies and things like that. At times this year, I’ve felt as though I may have seen something on film that was like, “Okay, when I see him do this, they run this play”, instead of taking my reads and going with that. Instead of looking at the guard, read my triangle, so I would say just honing in on those reads more and relying less on some of the things I’ve seen on film. And just technique. On the snap, sometimes when I got out of my stance, I just got too comfortable in my stance and kind of lagged.

JI: Let’s say I’m a general manager in the NFL. What would I be getting if I added you to my team?

AB: First and foremost, you will be getting a guy with passion. One thing I’ve realized is that a lot of guys do this and it’s just a job for them. It’s just a 9-to-5 for them, and it’s a way to feed their families. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that aspect of it, too. I realize that this is a way to help my family and help me live the life I want to live, but, at the end of the day, I love playing football. It’s something that I’ve been doing since I was six years old. At the end of the day, I’ll come in every day ready to work because, like I said, this is what I’m passionate about and what I want to do. Another thing would be a leader. I’m a guy who’s not afraid to stand up and be that example, be that representative and the kind of player you want on your team, the kind of teammate that guys want to play with. And just a fighter. That mentality, physically and mentality, to not allow anything to deprive me of putting in that work. Being a guy physically who, when games get tough, is going to be go out there and still keep it going. I think those would be the three main things.